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Trademark Law - A Small Introduction
The Intellectual Property Law has three branches: Patent Law, Copyright Law and Trademark Law. Patent Law will protect any new inventions from stealing and will give its inventor full rights on it. Movies, drawings, paintings, etc. are a part of artistic works and in this case copyright is used to protect them from imitations and illegal distribution. Although copyright law protects the artistic expression it hasn't got anything to do with idea of the work.
The trademark law is a little different; it protects any symbols, names or forms of signature that are found on a company's products. Trademarks can be names, drawings, sounds, images, or anything original about a certain company. However, services are distinguished by service marks which act as trademarks but are used for services.
Actually trademark law keeps anyone from using a company's representation as theirs, in order to obtain benefits from selling illegally marked products. Also it helps a company's products from being copied and its reputation among its clients.
Trademark law also guarantees the liberty of competition by protecting the possessor of a mark. Clients may be confused when another company uses the same mark, so another good thing about trademark law is protecting them from any confusion concerning original products.
Even artists like writers, authors or designers will benefit from the trademark law. This law protects their works from being used illegally by other people. Trademark law is very important in the artistic world because it ensures the originality of titles, domain names, characters, or publications, also making the public aware of their uniqueness.
Secondary meaning is another term which pops out when speaking about trademark laws. This term is a synonym for commercial use or commercial appeal and it refers to titles. These titles are protected, no matter the field, but they have to be famous and meet some requirements. Even titles that represent one type of merchandise can obtain protection in another type of merchandise. But one shot titles are not protected by the trademark law.
All the elements that are contained by trademarks help the costumers recognize a certain type of brand and contribute to the originality of the products. Costumers are protected from buying poor quality or counterfeit products.
Current legislation applies the trademark law in other fields like the internet. Here, trademark law protects domain names used by certain companies, online publications, or any type of original information given to the public. The punishment is the same for people who make illegal use of electronic creations.
Sometimes a character from a novel or a movie can become the image of a certain product. Although the character may lose copyright protection, it will gain trademark protection because it helps a brand sell its products and becomes a signature.
If a person has trademark rights they are allowed to sue anybody who will violate those rights. If someone modifies their work and claims to be original, or sells their work without approval, they will be punished for illegal intellectual property use. The importance of trademark is not only economical, but it also helps culture and ensures that people are aware of the products they buy.